Music plays a much more important role in people's lives than one might think. It can trigger memories, be a tool to help navigate difficult emotions and life events, create meaningful human connections, inspire creativity, or be a fun pastime.
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Everyone has their own music taste, developed through one's unique personal identity. It's highly unlikely for two people to have the same music taste, but that's what makes music such a personal thing.
Spotify is a global digital music, podcast, and video service that allows users to access millions of songs worldwide.
This company holds the number one spot for the world's most popular music streaming platform, with over 246 million paid subscribers and 626 million monthly active users.
The death of former One Direction member Liam Payne is announced
On Oct. 16, former One Direction member Liam Payne was reported dead at age 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of the room he was staying in at the Hotel Casa Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
According to the preliminary autopsy report, Payne suffered multiple traumatic injuries along with internal and external bleeding as a result of the deadly fall. There were also no signs of a struggle, signaling he was alone in his hotel room during the time of his death.
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In addition to the autopsy, histopathological, biochemical, and toxicological exams have been requested, and results are expected to be received within the upcoming days and weeks.
This toxicological report is one of the most pertinent pieces to the investigation since, in 2023, Payne revealed he had been struggling with substance abuse for years due to mental health issues and was now sober after being admitted to a rehab facility.
According to the released 911 call, minutes before Payne fell off the hotel's balcony, the hotel manager called the police, asking to send someone for help immediately, as he claimed that the singer seemed to be intoxicated and acting irrationally by breaking things in his room. The staff member also said he feared for the singer's life since his room had a balcony attached.
Spotify helps fans mourn Liam Payne's death
More often than not, artists don't become as relevant until a tragic event happens to them. Sadly, it's incredibly common for artists to reach peak stardom once they have passed away.
As sad as that may sound, these artists have left a legacy on the world that will forever live through their music. Legendary artists like Tupac Shakur and Kurt Cobain only became more famous once tragedy struck.
Spotify (SPOT) is the most popular music streaming platform worldwide, so it has experienced this musical trend firsthand. However, this time, it didn't see this spike coming.
Within the first 24 hours of Payne's death being announced, One Direction had its biggest streaming day of all time, ranking second on Spotify's global charts and first on the UK charts.
One Direction had 15 songs earn over 1 million streams on Spotify on October 17, with 38 over 500K:
— chart data (@chartdata) October 18, 2024
#1 Night Changes 4.69M
#2 Story of My Life 4.02M
#3 What Makes You Beautiful 2.66M
#4 Perfect 2.45M
#5 Steal My Girl 2.17M
#6 You & I 1.72M
#7 Drag Me Down 1.61M
#8 18 1.53M
#9… pic.twitter.com/iXng0bwnQt
Although a few days have passed since Payne's death was announced, loyal fans continue to mourn the beloved artist by listening to one of One Direction's most sentimental songs, "Night Changes."
As of Monday, the song ranks number eight on the global charts and seven on the UK charts.
Spotify's profitable business and how it works
One Direction, also known as 1D, is a UK boy band that was formed on the music competition show "The X Factor" in 2010 and consists of members Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlison, and Niall Horan. The band broke up in 2016, a year after Malik left the group to pursue a solo career, which the rest of the band members went on to do as well.
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According to TheRichest, the One Direction brand is worth around $215 million and made $457.5 million in gross ticket sales during its peak years in 2012 and 2013.
Sony Music (SNEJF) still owns the rights to the One Direction catalog through a joint venture with X Factor judge Simon Cowell and Syco Entertainment. Although all five members are now signed to different labels, they still obtain royalties from the music.
After the band split up, Payne was signed to Universal Music (UMGNF) to pursue his solo career. However, only days before his death, the company decided to drop him, as it was making cuts and wanted to invest in other artists.
According to DittoMusic, Spotify pays artists an average of $0.004 per stream, which results in a split of 70% to the artists and rights holders and 30% to Spotify.
However, for artists to generate any platform royalties, a minimum of 1,000 steams must be reached within 12 months.
As of its latest reported earnings in 2024, Spotify generated revenues of €3.8 billion, or approximately $4.1 billion.
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